Bite The Hand That Feeds
by LunarLotus123
Summary: Clover is a young wizard recently saved from the chains of slavery by the Fairy Tail guilds resident womanizer Loke. Though she left that life behind, no one can ever truly run from their past chains.
1. Chapter 1

"Where'd she go!?"

"She couldn't have gotten far!"

Crouching in an alleyway as the rain poured down was a young woman with dark teal hair and black stains on her hands and face, tears in her eyes.

"They can't find me...I can't go back there..." she whimpered, her legs trembling as she forced herself up off the ground.

Just as she stood up and staggered down the alleyway, one of the villagers happened to see her, "SHE'S OVER HERE"

In a hurry, the young girl bolted towards the exit, her violet eyes filled with panic and fear, "I've gotta get out of here!"

As she exited the alley and rounded the corner, the young woman ran into a stranger and fell to the ground.

"You alright?"

Looking up, she was surprised to see a boy about her age with red hair, sunglasses and a green jacket standing there, holding a hand out to her, "Here, sitting in a puddle like that, you're gonna catch a cold."

"WE FOUND HER!"

In a panic, the young woman took the strangers hand and hid behind him, trying to keep her legs from giving out.

"Hm?" the read head muttered before looking at the villagers gathering around them, "You guys gotta problem?"

"She's coming with us!"

"That so? Care to tell me why?" the stranger asked crossing his arms over his chest.

"She's a runaway slave. She's legally bound to the print master. So hand her over," one of the men snapped stepping forward.

"Really? Well, if you put it that way," the red head replied looking at the cowering teen behind him before flashing her a smile, "I'm sure as hell not gonna let you TOUCH her!"

Before the villagers could react, the red headed man touched a ring on his finger and smiled, "Ring magic! Twister!"

As he touched the ring, a huge wind storm came from nowhere and blasted the villagers back, giving him time to scoop the scared girl up and escape.

Once they were out of harms way, the stranger set the young woman down, "There...we should be in the clear now."

"T-Thanks," the young girl replied standing up only to fall to her knees, "Oh man..."

"You should take it easy. I'm not sure what those guys' deal was, but you look like you've been running forever."

The girl smiled and was about to say something when she fainted from exhaustion.

* * *

_Where...where am I? It's warm..._

Slowly coming to, the young woman found herself in a warm bed, her wet, stained clothes were replaced with a flannel shirt and a pair of sweat pants, "W...what..."

"Morning princess," a familiar voice called, "Feel better?"

"Y-You...you're the one that-"

"No need to thank me. I couldn't just ignore a damsel in distress, and a cute one at that. The names Loke. You gotta name gorgeous?"

Now that she could see him better, the young woman was taken aback by his eerily good looks.

"You alright? You're not deaf are ya?" Loke asked gently placing a hand on her forehead.

"Y-Yeah," she replied quickly, a light blush coming to her cheeks, "Sorry...my name's Clover."

"Clover? Like the town?" Loke asked with a slight smile.

"Yeah, my dad was from there. He passed away shortly before I was born, so my mom named me after his birth town," Clover explained with a sigh, "Though...if you go by my master...my name is Kitty."

"No, I like Clover, it's a nice name," Loke replied gently brushing a stray strand of hair from her face, "it fits someone as lovely as you."

Clover blushed lightly before casting her gave to the stains on her hands, "T-Thank you. My master though-"

"Don't. You don't have a master. Human's aren't possessions," Loke added quickly, his voice stern with a hint of distaste.

"I wish it were that easy sir," Clover said gently placing a hand on her right shoulder, "But...he won't let me leave so easily..."

"If you're talking about that stamp, he won't be able to track you. I wasn't able to remove it, but I managed to block it until I can help you get to someone who _can_ remove it."

"What?"

Clover's voice was filled with hope, almost too much hope, "You really know someone who could help?"

"Yeah. My guild master would be more than willing to help you out," Loke replied as he stood up and grabbed a bath towel from the dresser, "Here, you can take a bath if you like."

"Oh, thanks," Clover replied standing up, bracing herself against the headboard as she regained her balance.

Loke chuckled and gently helped her to the bathroom, "Just take a bath and relax. Whenever you're ready we can leave."

Clover nodded and sat at the edge of the bath tub, "Alright...Um...what happened to my clothes?"

"They were filthy and torn. I picked up a change of clothes for you from the shop around the corner. I'll leave you alone now," Loke explained setting a change of clothes on the counter and leaving the room.

Once she was alone, Clover removed the button down shirt and the pants, her torso covered in scars and bruises, a tattoo resided on her right shoulder.

It was a small quill with a chain wrapped around it, a symbol that she was a slave of the print master, until the day she died.

After getting into the bath, Clover breathed a deep sigh of relief,_ For once...I feel a peace..._

Meanwhile, Loke was sitting in the window sill, just staring up at the night sky, almost as if he were looking for something, or someone.

"Um...are you sure this is alright for me to wear?"

The red head turned and smiled, "Of course, it looks great. The stains are gone too...they were ink stains, right?"

True to his words, the black stains in Clover's hair and on her hands were gone, leaving her skin clean and her hair shining like the night sky, the outfit he had bought her was a knee length blue dress with a silver hem that lined the bottom of the dress and the neck line.

"Um...yeah...how did you know?"

"It wasn't too hard to put together. I mean, you wroked for a guy called the print master, and I kinda noticed the mark on your shoulder. You're a wzard right?" Loke asked slipping off of the window sill and going over to the small table in the room,.

Clover looked over and noticed he had a couple bottles of flavored milk and some snacks laid out.

She swallowed slightly before sitting on the bed, "Yes, I use flow magic...my master was using my magic to print books and scrolls, that is...until he found out about the other skills I had..."

Loke watched her before walking over and holding a bottle of milk out to her, "Here..."

Clover hesitated a moment before taking the bottle from him, "Thanks..."

"So...if you're a flow wizard...why would you be working in a printing shop?"

"Well..." Clover muttered after taking a sip of the strawberry flavored milk, "I'm not like most people..."

"That so? Cute AND unique," Loke siad with a smile adjusting his sunglasses, "You're getting to be more and more irresistable by the moment."

"The thing is...I don't bleed blood...my blood is ink," Clover explained hesitantly, her hands shaking slightly, "My magic energy pulls the ink from my body and places it in on paper. If I use enough energy, the drawnigs can come to life. My master though, he only uses it so that he could sell more books and scrolls without lifting a finger..."

"Tht's terrible," the red headed wizard exclaimed, "I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be...as a slave, it's what I am trained to do. It doesn't matter wht the world thinks as long as I please my master."

Loke grit his teeth before standing up, "I hate to admit it, but I saw the scars...when I changed you out of those rags. Nobody deserves to be treated like that."

"It's not as if it's unheard of...many slaves are beaten if they disobey," Clover explained, a few tears rolling down her cheeks, "Most of the time...we deserve it. I spoke against my master too many times...I had to be punished..."

"Stop, you're not a slave anymore. We're toing to my guild master, he's going to free you from that binding spell, and you're going to start your new life," Loke said firmly as he stood up and took Clover by the hand, "Let's go."

Clover stared Loke in the eye, unsure of how to react to his kindness.

After a moment, she smiled, "Alright...I trust you."

"Great. Let's go then."

* * *

To be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

"YOU GOTTA PROBLEM DRAGON BREATH!"

"YEAH I DO STRAKER! YOU'RE FACE IS PUTTING ME OFF!"

Inside the extravagant Fairy Tail guild hall, Natsu and Gray were once again at each others throats, MiraJane was laughing as she watched, Elfman was going on about what a /real/ man should do and Cana was drinking, again.

"Hey! Could you guys keep it down!?" Loke called out as he walked in, his arm gently draped over Clover's shoulders, "I can hear you from a mile away.

MiraJane walked over and smiled, "Hi Loke. How'd your last job go?"

"Great. Piece of cake. Is Master here? I may need his help with something," Loke explained with a smile.

"Yeah, he's over there welcoming our newest member Lucy. Is this girl looking for help?" the white haired girl asked looking at Clover with a smile.

"It's complicated. Come on," Loke said with a smile, leading Clover over to a short older man wearing an orange outfit.

"Loke, glad you made it back safe," he said with a smile, shifting his staff from one shoulder to the other.

"Master Makarov, would it be possible to help this lovely young lady in private? I don't htink you want Natsu and Gray catching wind of this situation," the red haired wizard explained quietly.

Makarov raised a brow before nodding, "Alright, let's go to the back room."

Loke lead Clover to a rather large room behind the bar, watching to make sure Natsu didn't see them.

"So young lady, what seems to be the trouble?"

'Well...sir...it's..." Clover struggled with her words, her face a mixture of uncertainty and worry.

"It's okay Clover, master is a nice guy," Loke explained with a kind smile.

Clover looked up at him and nodded before turning back to Makarov, "You see sir...I'm a runaway slave...and-"

"And you want help right?" Makarov finished, appearing unchanged, "I see."

"Master, I know it's a tall order but-"

"Loke, do you really think I'm going to let this poor woman suffer those chains again? Of course I'm going to help her," Makarov snapped, his irritation starting to show, "Now, you should rejoin the others."

Loke was about to say something, but opted for nothing before leaving the room.

"Now then," Makarov said standing up on the crate he had been sitting on, "May I see the mark?"

Clover was hesitant, but nodded and slid the sleeve of her dress off, turning away from Makarov so he could see it completely.

"This is a powerful binding spell...it may hurt but I can remove it," the guild master explained rubbing his chin slightly.

"Please...I can't go back there," Clover said quietly, the thought of going back terrifying her to the core.

"Alright," Makarov replied placing a hand on the mark, a magic circle appearing between the mark and his hand.

At first, all she felt was a slight warmness before a sharp painful burning sensation tore through her body.

Much to Makarov's surprise though, she didn't scream, though, it was half expected, considering the hell she must have gone through.

After a few minutes, the binding spell was gone and the mark removed.

"How are you feeling?" Makarov asked, seeing Clover trembling.

"Better sir, thank you," she managed pulling the sleeve of her dress back up and forcing a smile, "It means a lot to me."

"It was good thing Loke brought you here to get help, I wouldn't wish that life upon my worst enemies," the guild master explained jumping down from the crate and walking over to the door, "Now then, what's your name?"

"Clover, sir."

"That is a nice name. How would you feel about joining out guild Clover?"

"Sir?"

"You heard me, you think I didn't sense your magic energy? You have a strong power inside of you, and if you join Fairy Tail, we could help you harness that power. "

Hearing this, Clover paused, unsure of what to do.

True, she had used her magic in the past, but she had never done much with it, but she wanted to do some good with it.

"You know, that sounds like a good idea sir," she replied smiling, "if you'll have me, I'd love to join."

"Well then, welcome to Fairy Tail, Clover," Makarov said with a smile as he lead her to the main room again, "MiraJane will take care of the formalities."

Clover thanked Makarov an followed him over to where MiraJane was standing.

"MirJane, could you take care of Clover here? She's going to be joining our happy family," the master explained hopping up onto the counter and taking a seat.

"Another new member? That's great!" she replied smiling, "Is there any place in particular you'd like your guild mark?"

Clover paused a moment before nodding, "On my leg, it'd be easier to conceal if necesary..."

"Alright," MIraJane replied picking her stamp up and touching it to Clover's right leg.

After a moment, she removed it, revealing a purple Fairy Tail insignia.

"Welcome to Fairy Tail!" MiraJane said with a big smile.

As the realization set in, her freedom, and now belonging to a guild, Clover felt a few tears building up in her eyes.

"Are you alright?" MiraJane asked sounding concerned.

"Yeah..." Clover replied as the tears began falling freely down her face, wiping them away as best she could, "It's just...I've never felt so good..."

Mirajane watched her before smiling at her, "Well, that's good at least."

"Hey! Who's this!?"

"Natsu, chill out. You're gonna scare the poor girl away."

Clover turned and saw two boys, one with pink hair wearing a scaly scarf and one with black hair in only his boxers walk over.

"Gray...your clothes," MiraJane said noticing Clover's face turn beet red as she continued to stare.

"GAH! What the hell!?"

"Don't mind him. He just likes to be creepy," the pink haired boy said with a huge smile, "I'm Natsu Dragneel."

"H-Hi...I'm Clover," she replied shakily, her cheeks returning to a semi normal color.

"I'm Happy!"

The appearance of a flying blue cat out of nowhere caused Clover to jump, "Y-You're a cat

"Aye!"

"You're TALKING!"

"Aye!"

"You've never seen a magical creature before?" Gray asked, fully dressed as he re-approached the new girl.

"I-I can't say I have..." Clover stated unable to look away from Happy.

"Have you been living under a rock?" Natsu muttered looking confused.

For a moment, Clover froze.

_I can't tell them about that...what do I do?_

"Leave her alone guys, I've been to her town, there's not a whole lot there," Loke snapped quickly running interference, "I mean, their only magic shop sold childrens tricks."

"Whoa...you're in for a treat then! Stick around us and you'll get to see all kinds of new things," Natsu said hooking an arm around her shoulders, "You're gonna do great here..

In a hurry, Clover pushed him away, her eyes filling with momentary panic and dread, "Don't touch me!"

The once noisy guild hall fell silent and watched Natsu and Clover, unsure of what had just happened.

"Clover, are you alright?" Loke asked being careful not to panic her again, gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"I said don't touch me!" Clover cried as she pulled away again, her body shaking before turning and bolting out of the guild hall.

"What the hell was up with her?" Natsu asked cocking an eyebrow.

"You idiot...she came from an abusive home," Loke snapped turning around and glaring angrily at Natsu, "Did you ever consider she may not WANT to be touched!?"

"Abusive?" Gray asked crossing his arms, "That explains a lot."

Loke didn't wait around to hear Natsu and Gray ask any more questions, instead he hurried to go find the newest guild member before something bad happened to her.

* * *

To be continued


	3. Chapter 3

"Clover! Clover, where are you!?" Loke called out as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop, franticaly searching for the poor girl.

After searching for about an hour, he found her tucked in an alleyway, knees pulled to her chest and her head cradled in her hands.

He quickly jumped down and slowly approached her, "Clover...is everything alright?"

Clover looked up shakily, her eyes red from crying and her hands shaking, "L-Loke...I don't...I mean...I didn't...I'm so sorry..."

"Hey, hey, hey, you've got nothing to be sorry for," the orange haired man said, gently taking her hands in his, "If anything, that moron Natsu should be apologizing..."

"No, he didn't do anything wrong...I blew everything out of proportion..."

Loke looked at the frightened woman before him and gently pulled her into an embrace, "No, you didn't. It's going to take a while for you to adjust...I'm going to help you through this, I promise."

Clover was about to push him away in another fit of panic, but this time she managed to stop herself.

Unlike earlier with Natsu, this felt different, it felt safe.

Loke smiled and gently helped her to her feet, "Don't worry, if I can help it, nothing will ever happen to you again."

"T...thank you," Clover replied, managing a small smile.

Not wanting to linger in the alleyway for too long, Loke gently scooped Clover up bridal style and jumped back to the rooftops, "I think this is becoming a habit for us."

Clover let out a slight yelp and wrapped her arms around his neck, clutching her eyes shut as she felt the air rushing around them.

"Sorry, didn't mean to scare you," he stated seeing her a bit startled.

"It's ok..." Clover replied looking around as Loke ran with her back to the guild hall, "I just didn't expect it is all..."

Now that she could get a good look at the town, the young woman was taken aback by the sheer size of it.

Compared to her old village, this was almost it's own country.

Quickly drawn out of her daze, the teal haired wizard noticed Loke had stopped outside the guild hall once more where he set her back on her feet.

"Do you wanna go in? Or do you wanna wait?" he asked gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

"Um..." Clover hesitated a moment, the commotion from inside startling her a bit before got ahold of herself, "I can do this. Thank you."

"Alright," Loke said with a smile as he walked back in with her.

Once inside, Clover paused a moment, almost as if she were waiting for someone to snap at her for running earlier.

Much to her surprise, Natsu walked up to her and smiled, "Hey,sorry about earlier. You alright?"

"Uh-huh," she replied quietly keeping her gaze to the floor.

"Hm? Why do you keep staring at the floor?" the pink haired boy asked bending down to look her in the eye, "You're gonna always run into things like that."

"Back off Natsu, give the girl some space," Gray snapped yanking on Natsu's scarf.

Natsu cried out as the scarf started to choke him, "Hey! What was that for!?"

"You wanna scare the poor girl again?"

"Gray," Loke said with a sigh, "Your clothes?"

"GAH! NOT AGAIN!"

Clover paused a moment before giggling a bit.

Loke seemed surprised at this and just watched as her giggles became full blown laughter, a smile coming to his face.

Even Natsu and Gray managed to calm down a moment before laughing along with her.

"Well master?" MiraJane said watching everything from the bar, "You think she'll be alright?"

"Wounds like hers will take considerable time to heal, but," Mokarov stated taking a drag of his pipe, "I have a feeling she'll be just fine, given enough time."  
"I think you may be right."

Once she had stopped laughing, Clover wiped the tears from her eyes and smiled genuinely for the first time in a long time, "You know...I think I'm gonna like it here..."

"Great," Happy said flying over and landing on Natsu's back, "Welcome home Clover!"

* * *

"Here's the job board, if you see a job here you want, just take it off the board, show it to me or Master Mokarov, and go do it," MiraJane explained leading Clover over to the bulletin board.

"Alright, thank you," Clover replied looking at the various posters.

"Are you looking for a job too?"

Clover turned quickly to find the other new wizard, Lucy Heartfilia, standing there, "Oh, yeah. Um...I'm just not sure which one to take..."

"Well, me and Natsu are taking Daybreak if you want to come with us. It couldn't hurt having an extra hand on the team."

"I couldn't, I mean...you two are already a team, I wouldn't want to intrude," Clover replied blushing a bit.

"You wouldn't be intruding. Besides, your first job can be intimidating. It'd be better to do it with someone, right?" Lucy replied with a kind smile.

"Really?" Clover asked smiling as well, "Thank you. I think that'd be a good idea...Though, I may need to get somethings first."

"Sure, want me to walk to your house with you?"

"My...house?"

"Yeah, where you're staying," Lucy said raisng a brow, "You...do have a house...don't you?"

"No. I only have the clothes on my back," Clover admitted sounding embarassed, "I don't have any money, I don't have anything really."

Lucy looked a bit surprised before smiling, "Tell you what. I'll get you what you need, then after this job, you and I can find you nice place to stay."

"You don't have-"

"We're doing this, so come on," Lucy said with a smile grabbing the poster and leading Clover out of the Guild Hall.

After leading her to the market place, Lucy looked at Clover and smiled, "So, what do you ned?"

"Um...just some blank scrolls and a few ink brushes," Clover replied looking around at the crowd, trying not to get too uncomfortable.

"Alright. I know just the place," Lucy replied leading Clover to a parchment shop.

Clover looked around and felt her chest tighten a bit, being in the shop sort of reminded her of the print master's shop.

"You alright?"

"Hm? Yeah...I got distracted...sorry," Clover bluffed walking over to Lucy.

"Alright. Well, is there any particular kind you need?"

"Um...not really, as long as it can hold ink," Clover replied picking up a couple of cheap scrolls and a couple cheap bamboo brushes, "These should be fine."

"Ok, I'll pay for these then we can get Natsu and go," Lucy said with a smile as she handed a few jewels to the shop keeper.

Clover nodded and decided to wait outside, trying to get her mind off of her previous life.  
_Is this your best!?  
_  
_I'm sorry master! I'll do better! I promise!  
_  
_Promises don't sell books! If you want to eat this week you'll step it up NOW!  
_  
_Yes mast-GAH!_

"You sure you're alright?" Lucy asked once she rejoined Clover, "You look stressed."

Quickly coming out of her daze, Clover shook her head and nodded, "Yeah, I'm just...not used to crowds..."

"Well, here's your stuff, let's go find Natsu and Happy and get going."

Clover accepted the bag from Lucy and nodded, "Yeah, sounds like a plan."

* * *

To be continued


End file.
